Professor long hair biography of michael

Born Henry Roeland Byrd, December 19, 1918, in Bogalusa, LA; died of a heart attack, January 30, 1980; son of James and Mae Byrd (both musicians); married Alice, c. 1940; seven children (one deceased). Street dancer in New Orleans, c.

1929; served in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s; prizefighter; dancer in floor shows at nightclubs, including work with Redd Foxx and Champion Jack Dupree; war veteran; piano player in nightclubs, c. 1949; toured with various groups, including the Four Hairs Combo, Professor Longhair and His Shuffling Hungarians, Roy Byrd and His Blues Jumpers, and Professor Longhair and the Clippers, 1949-60; did solo work as Roy "Bald Head" Byrd and Roland Byrd; worked for One Stop Record store, c.

1968; toured the U.S. and Europe in the 1970s as Professor Longhair and the Blues Scholars; appeared at Montreux Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, and the Grande Parade du Jazz in Nice, France; toured Scandinavia.

With a complicated piano style that integ